ブルーの家族 Family of Blue
by MikiMoke
Summary: Instead of being too weak to sustain Satan's power, what if Yukio was born like Rin? How much differently would their lives have played out? And would more people be added to their story?
1. One

**Sort of an AU I thought about doing. Don't know how long it could go for, but I'll try to see how far I can go.**

**Summary: **_Instead of being too weak to sustain Satan's power, what if Yukio was born like Rin? How much differently would their lives have played out? And would more people be added to their story?_

**Enjoy ^^**

**~Miki**

* * *

**ONE: ビッグブラザーとシスター - Big Brother and Sister**

"Big Sister!" one of the twins called. "Big Sister Juri! Can you please help me with this?"

The black-haired girl in the kitchen sighed, glancing at her brother as she turned to leave the room. The man with the brown-haired boy chuckled, raising a hand to his mouth and cupping it on one side.

"She's coming, Yukio!" he called back. "Hold on a sec!"

She left the kitchen, making her way down the hall and toward the twins' room. She was Juri Okumura, eldest and only adopted daughter to Father Fujimoto, and she was ten years old. She had been living in the monastery since she was two, with her older brother, Akatsuki, and her younger brothers, Rin and Yukio.

Juri opened the door and walked inside, met by a brown-haired boy of seven. His glasses sat crookedly on his nose and a small bruise was on his cheek. In front of him was a mathematics book, as well as homework from his school. The paper was filled out to about halfway.

"I need help," Yukio sighed, setting down the book. Juri smiled at her little brother and sat down on the bed with him, only to have a sudden question arise.

"Where's Rin?" she asked. Yukio shrugged lazily and looked down at his work.

"Big Brother Akatsuki will find him," he told her. He pushed the paper to her slightly, a pleading look in his blue eyes. One of his eyes was slightly swollen due to the bruise on his cheek, which he had gotten at school. According to the teacher, both he and Rin got angry at one child's comment and a fight broke out, Rin and Yukio versus the kid and his pals. It was obvious that Rin and Yukio had won that fight, but they were punished by Father Fujimoto – Yukio had to do some homework assigned to him by the teacher, and Rin had to clean the dishes for the next week. Juri almost felt sorry for him, what with there being so many dishes cooked for so many people in one house. It almost took Rin three whole hours the last time he did it.

Juri picked up the paper and scanned through the answers Yukio had written already and then stopped when she met the first blank spot. "This one?" she inquired. He nodded sadly.

Launching into tutoring-sister mode, Juri pointed out what Yukio had to do in the problem, and then gave him a real world example that he could follow. Just as realisation dawned over the seven-year-old's face, Akatsuki's voice came from down the hall.

"There you are, Rin," he was saying. "Come with me."

"Hey!" Rin protested. "Why do I have to come?"

The two were making their way past the door as Yukio wrote down the answer, handing the sheet to Juri for confirmation. Juri checked it and smiled, giving him a thumbs-up, and then she stood and left, telling him to call out if he needed her.

When Juri reached her other brothers, they were already preparing the kitchen. She sat down at the table, noticing Father Fujimoto was gone, and tapped the tabletop with her index finger lightly, yawning a little. Her eyes closed slowly, sounds in the kitchen becoming distant. A hand landed softly on her shoulder – an adult hand – and her eyes snapped open. She gasped slightly, only to realise she had fallen asleep at the table. Sniffing the air, she caught the scent of curry and rice.

"Good evening," Father Fujimoto's voice said from behind her. Juri glanced at the hand and followed the trail of the arm, finally meeting Fujimoto's brown eyes at the end of the trail.

"Evening, Dad," she yawned. "I didn't sleep through dinner, right?"

Fujimoto laughed at that, checking over his shoulder. "It's going to be served in five minutes," he told her. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

She nodded, smiling tiredly. Fujimoto's gaze softened. "Have you been having any of those nightmares again?"

Juri hesitated before nodding again.

"Juri," Fujimoto said in a quiet voice, "I've been considering a decision that if for you and Akatsuki to make yourselves." He sat down in the chair next to her, sighing. "I'll ask you both when Rin and Yukio go to bed, okay?"

Juri nodded a third time and yawned a second, catching a whiff of even more food coming from the kitchen. Her stomach growled loudly, as did Fujimoto's. The man let out a laugh, amused by their growling stomachs.

"Hey, guys," he called. "You may need to hurry it up."

It wasn't long before the entire monastery was seated at the table, staring down at the food. Fujimoto sat at one end of the table, no one directly beside him, while Akatsuki sat directly opposite him, also without anyone right beside him.

Fujimoto gave him a crooked grin. "Why the long face, Suki?" he teased. Juri smiled slightly. Suki was a girl's name, and Akatsuki's name just happened to end with it. Fujimoto came up with the idea of calling him that as a joke.

Akatsuki glanced down at the food, then focused on his adopted father. He grinned, but it was small. "What are you on about, old man?" the eleven-year-old joked. "This is my normal face."

With a chuckle, Fujimoto nodded for everyone to start eating. Almost instantly, Yukio and Rin made a break for the meat, scarfing half of it down and placing the other half on their plates. Juri and Akatsuki stared at him, eyes wide. Rin stopped and shot Akatsuki a glare while Yukio looked away from his food curiously.

"What?" Rin snapped. Akatsuki shrugged with an all-knowing smile.

"Nothing," he mused. "You and Yukio seem hungry tonight." His smile turned to a smirk. "Or are you two trying to make the dishes as clean as possible for when Rin has to wash them?"

The twins flinched and frantically began to eat again, this time finishing what was on their plates and then moving on to what was served at the table. Akatsuki sniggered to himself as Juri whacked his hand with her chopsticks, growling at him for saying that to their brothers.

Dinner was finished within the hour, and Rin was immediately sent to do the dishes. It seemed that Akatsuki had been right – the twins had been trying to eat everything quickly so the dishes weren't as hard to clean. Smart boys, they were.

"Juri, Akatsuki," Fujimoto said. "Come with me." As he got out of his chair, he turned to the kitchen. "Yukio, Rin, straight to bed after you finish your homework and the dishes."

A loud protest came from both of them, followed by, "Old fart," from Rin. Juri could only giggle at the boys' reactions.

Father Fujimoto led them out of the room and toward another part of the monastery, where they could talk in private. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Akatsuki turned serious.

"It's about those things from when you adopted us, isn't it?" he said. Fujimoto nodded, a sad look on his face.

"Soon, creatures will be coming for Rin and Yukio – the very same creatures that attack your homes and families – and many more." He sat down on a nearby chair, gesturing for his adopted children to sit as well. Only Juri sat down, Akatsuki remaining on his feet next to his sister. "Rin and Yukio... They're – how do I put it? They're not like other children. Their mother was human, but their father – their birth father..."

"_Wasn't_ human?" Juri supplied.

"_Isn't_ human," Fujimoto corrected. "He is a demon. To be specific, the demon of demons – the Lord of Gehenna."

Akatsuki finally took a seat, but his eyes were full of shock and his hands were trembling. "Their father is the damn _Lord_ of those bastards?" he managed to gasp. A look of betrayal covered his shock.

"You didn't tell us this without something in mind," he went on. "What do you want from us?"

Fujimoto sighed and stood, kneeling down between the two chairs and placing a hand on their shoulders.

"Join me in the battle," he urged them. "Learn to exorcise demons so that – when the time comes – you can protect Rin and Yukio. I know you two would be able to do it, despite how young you both are."

Juri nodded determinedly. "They were my brothers before hearing this, and they're still my brothers now. I'll do it."

A frown tugged at Akatsuki's lips. He was hesitating. "I don't know, old man," he sighed. "It's just–" He cut himself off. "I'll do it, too."

* * *

**First chapter, next one will be done soon – or when I get it done, whichever happens first :3**

**Hope people enjoy the following chapters ^^**


	2. Two

**Well... I'm glad people have liked this enough to favourite and let me know they want more... I was kind of expecting people to get fed up with waiting for an update... :D Yay!**

**I've put in a time skip that practically skips right up until Fujimoto's funeral, because we all know what happened with the whole revelation that Rin is the son of Satan. I'll be writing it from the twins' perspectives, so Juri and Akatsuki won't be doing much narrating in this chapter.**

* * *

**TWO: 5番目のオプション ****- The Fifth Option**

Rin stared down at the tombstone in front of the grave, his mind whirling with possible outcomes for him and his brother. What do they do now? How do they explain this to Juri and Akatsuki? Why did Fujimoto keep this from them for _fifteen years_?

Beside him, Yukio shifted on the spot and ran a hand through his short dark hair, droplets of the rain falling onto his face and clothes. His face was tired, bags forming under his eyes, and his expression was unreadable.

The older twin reached into his pocket and felt Fujimoto's phone in his grasp. Should he call the friend now, he wondered? Should he wait until the funeral was over, and until he saw Juri and Akatsuki again? Rin scowled. There were so many questions he was asking himself; did Yukio have questions? Of course he did, Rin told himself. Yukio was the smarter twin - his mind thought of more possibilities and questions than Rin's did.

Yukio glanced at his brother before releasing a breath and hanging his head low.

"Make the call," he said. Rin blinked, his blue eyes scanning his brother's form. Yukio sounded so...defeated. Rin had never heard it in his brother's voice before.

"Are you sure?" he replied, pulling out the phone and staring at the screen. Raindrops fell onto the blank screen, creating small, see-through domes that covered it.

Yukio nodded once and glanced up at Fujimoto's grave. His face wasn't unreadable anymore, sadness showing in his bright blue eyes and tugging down at his lips. Rin felt some kind of pity for him, and he didn't know why. Slowly, Yukio knelt down and reached out for Fujimoto's tombstone, placing a hand atop it and staring sadly at the words engraved into it.

Obeying his brother, Rin switched on the phone and scanned through the features, finding the first and only number in the address book that he needed. He hit the call button, raised it to his ear, and then jumped when he heard a ringing closeby. Both twins glanced around, spotting the source of the ringing to their right.

Standing there, a smile on his face, was a strangely dressed man that resembled a purple and white clown. Rin gave him a once-over, taking in the white top hat, cape, suit-shirt, and jester-style pants, as well as the purple gloves and the man's purple hair. The only thing on him that wasn't purple or white was his eyes, which were a forest-green colour.

"Hello, there," the man greeted with a surprisingly deep voice. "You must be Yukio and Rin Okumura."

Yukio stood and glared at the man, taking notice of his pointed ears. Curiosity bit at him, causing him to wonder if this man was the same as the twins.

"Are you an exorcist?" Rin asked bluntly. Right as he asked the question, men and women clad in black appeared from nowhere, forming a circle around them. The bottom halves of their faces were hidden by fabric masks, their stances cautious and threatening.

"Indeed, I am," Clown Man replied. "I am Mephisto Pheles, Knight of the True Cross."

"How do you know who we are?" Yukio questioned. Mephisto grinned at his question, seeming to find it amusing.

"Shiro Fujimoto has told me much about you two, about how he wanted to raise you human," he explained. He glanced at Rin and Yukio's forms amusedly, returning the once-over Rin had given him. "However," he added, "instead of abiding by his wishes to take you in, I'm going to give you both four options: Kill each other; commit suicide; let these exorcists here kill you; or kill the exorcists surrounding you in order to escape."

The boys stared at him, their expressions well-kept and hidden. They glanced at each other, a silent conversation passing between them.

_Are we just going to give up?_ Rin demanded.

Yukio replied, _We can't kill them._

Glancing back at Mephisto, they came to a unanimous decision. "None," Yukio told him. Rin joined in.

"We don't want to die, and we don't want to kill anyone," he said. "We're going to kick that bastard Satan's ass!"

Instead of sighing at his brother's way of putting their decision, Yukio nodded in agreement.

Shocking them, Mephisto gave them a wide-eyed stare before breaking into a fit of laughs, surprising the exorcists surrounding them. What was so funny? It kind of pissed Rin off!

"Is that so?" he chuckled. The boys continued to stare at him, trying to find their voices. Finally clearing his throat, Mephisto went on, "Very well, then. You will learn how to become an exorcist."

* * *

"J-Juri," Rin gasped, spotting his sister walking toward him. She looked different from the last time he'd seen her - her long hair had been chopped to be much shorter, slightly longer than a boy cut, with a dyed-in streak of blue along her fringe. She was dressed in the True Cross uniform, minus the yellow sailor jacket. Slung over her shoulder was a duffel bag, most likely filled with things she'd forgotten to take with her last week. "What are you doing here?"

Juri came to a stop before the boys, standing around the same height as the younger - yet taller - twin. "I came by to collect my stuff," she told them. "I only just heard the news about Dad, though. I still can't believe he's gone..."

Her eyes trailed down to the ground, a feeling of pity and guilt rising in the twins' stomachs. She didn't know about what had happened - she only knew that he'd died. Rin hoped that his sister would never have to know about how he'd died or the world he'd been involved in.

"How are things at True Cross?" Yukio asked. Trust him to change the subject to something better. "Akatsuki's been taking care of you?"

At this, Juri scoffed. "Please," she said. "I'm old enough to be taking care of myself, Yukio. I don't need Suki to watch my every move." She laughed at herself, earning a small smile from the twins. "Ah, school's okay. It's the same as the last two years, so there's nothing new there. I did change my look, in case you didn't notice" - she gestured to her hair with a "valley girl" flair - "since my roomies were helping someone go through this break up. Who knew girls gave manicures and haircuts whenever someone broke up with them?"

Yukio blinked at the sentence, confused, but laughed along with them anyway. He knew Rin was just as confused, and he was grateful for that fact.

With a growl, Rin turned to the road and took a few steps toward it, muttering, "Where is that damn clown?"

Out of nowhere, a long, pink limousne came speeding toward the trio, coming to a halt right in front of a panicking Rin. Juri stilfed a laugh while Yukio stared at the vehicle in wonder, his jaw dropping slightly at the sight of it.

Mephisto himself burst out of the limo, his arms gesturing wide and a big grin on his face. Yukio once again took notice of a similarity between him and the twins, noting the sharpened canines hiding among his whitened teeth.

Following Mephisto out, surprisingly, was Akatsuki. He was dressed in the male uniform, his jacket buttoned up neatly and his tie tucked underneath, and he looked more or less the same as when he'd left. It seemed he hadn't expected Juri to change much, though, as his eyes bulged at the sight of her dyed and chopped hair.

"I'm not even going to ask," he said to her. In response, she poked her tongue out at him and giggled evilly. Once the reintroductions were aside (with Mephisto being called Johann Faust the Fifth, or "Sir Faust," by Juri and Akatsuki) all of them clambered into the limo and sat on opposite sides of each other. Juri and Akatsuki sat across from Rin and Yukio, their attentions on something other than the twins. Whilst Akatsuki had his nose buried in a book by the name of _Kitchen, _Juri was busy checking through her bag for anything she missed.

The boys knew, deep down, that they could not change the events of Fujimoto's death for their siblings, nor could they allow them to find out about the world of the exorcists.

_No_, Rin thought. _I don't want them to know about what Yukio and I am, or even about the world we've been born into_.

Before much time passed, they'd arrived at True Cross academy. Needless to say, it was much bigger than the pictures in the brochure showed it to be, and neither twin could hold back their gapes and gasps. Words could not describe it - that, or Rin didn't know the words to do so!

The twins went to exit the limo after Juri and Akatsuki climbed out and waited patiently, only to have Mephisto grab the necks of their jackets and pull them back in. Both of them complained, but immediately went quite when Mephisto mentioned that they had to change into their uniforms. The boys took the uniforms with frowns and changed as fast as they could, Rin needing help from Yukio to tie his tie. They left the limo afterward, the giant pink thing driving away the moment they set their feet on the ground.

Rin surveyed his uniform with disdain, unhappy that he would have to tie the damn tie every day until he finished school. He'd decided to leave his jacket open, his tie loose and sword slung over his shoulder (Rin would never disobey his father's last order), whilst Yukio kept his attire neat, like Akatsuki's, and his own sword slung over the opposite shoulder.

"Where do we go now?" Rin wondered aloud. Yukio hummed in response, thinking hard about what to do, and noticed Juri immediately making her way over to a group of older girls. They must've been the girls she'd mentioned before the four had left for True Cross. There was six in total, including Juri herself, and all of them seemed absorbed in whatever conversation they were having.

A sudden, "Akatsuki's here!" caused the brothers to jump and glance in the eldest Okumura's direction, spotting the eighteen-year-old with a crowd of girls surrounding him. He talked softly to each an every one of them, a charming look on his face as they swooned and squealed. Rin was envious, to be honest - since when was Akatsuki so popular with girls? Sure, he was good-looking, but there was no way he was _that_ good-looking!

"You're jealous," Yukio stated. Rin didn't bother with a reply, only grunted and stood up a little straighter.

Students began to file into a large building area (Rin couldn't remember what it was called), and the teacher in charge began to make announcements. Rin and Yukio sat close to each other, preferring not to get involved with anyone just yet. Rin managed to spy Akatsuki on the other side of the room, while Yukio spotted Juri some rows below them.

The teacher went on and on about random things that Rin honestly didn't care about, when suddenly he announced, "Hitomi Hamasaki, please step forward," and the room erupted into applause. Rin's head snapped up as he noticed one of the girls below him stand, and whispered to Yukio, "What's going on?"

"That girl's been elected as our year level's representative." Yukio clapped once, seeming disinterested. "That means she has the highest academic score of our class."

"Huh." Rin watched her as she walked down the pathway to the stage and took her place in the spotlight. She read a speech that was handed to her, and with that they moved on to the next year level.

* * *

Yukio sighed as he waited impatiently for Mephisto to meet them, his mind counting over ten minutes as Rin focused on something entirely different. He couldn't get the fact that his big brother was the representative of his year, and that someone like that Hitomi girl was the representative of their own year. There was something about the way she looked at people - her eyes, and how she never made eye contact with anyone. What was up with that? It wasn't like she visibly looked away from them; her eyes were just looking at something other than someone else's.

"Hello, there!" Mesphisto's voice called. Both the twins' head snapped up, sending daggery glares at the man as he regarded them childishly.

"When do we start learning?" Yukio demanded. "To become exorcists, I mean."

Mephisto nodded and jumped down from his perch to meet them, handing the two of them a key each. The keys looked to be made of some bronze-coloured metal, a strange pattern on the top of it. "School doesn't start for another week," the tall man explained. "However, cram school begins today. Use those keys on any door and you will be taken to the cram school. Do not lose them, though; it would be very bad if a regular student got their hands on it."

The boys nodded in understanding, and once Mephisto was satisfied he announced, "_Eins, zwei, drei!_" A puff of smoke surrounded him, then slowly vanished, revealing a small, white, scottie dog in his place, a large bow tied around its neck.

Both boys blinked and rubbed their eyes, still finding the dog in Mephisto's place. A voice announced, "Give it a try, come on!"

"Wha- Where did that come from?" Rin gasped, searching around the area for another person. A sound of impatience came from in front of them, their attention going back to the dog.

"Well?" the dog inquired. "There's a door underneath us - use the key on it!"

Confused, Yukio jumped down from the small bridge and glanced around, spotting the small door residing beneath the bridge. While Rin asked the dog - Mephisto - various questions, Yukio inserted the key into the lock and opened the door.

The room inside surprised Yukio, revealing a long hallway with various doors lining either side. "Rin!" he said. "You need to check this out!"

"I'm coming!" Rin jumped down and joined his brother, only to gasp at the sight of the hall. "Wow..."

"Let's go!" the Mephisto dog sang. "Class is going to start soon!"

They followed him inside, making their way down the hall in silence. Rin stared at the path ahead of them, finally keeping his focus on the task ahead, and Yukio managed to glance at the paintings and pictures lining the walls. There was no way that the cram school was going to be anything like ordinary school - the first obvious fact was that the twins were going to be taught how to kill demons.

"Ah, this door right here," Mephisto dog announced, turning for a door to their left. The boys followed and stopped in front of the door, gulping nervously as they wondered what the room and students would be like.

Without further ado, Yukio opened the door and peeked inside.


	3. Three

**Erm... I honestly had the first part of this chapter written out, but my computer closed the internet whilst I was typing and thus I lost the part I wrote TT_TT Anyway, another OC introduced in this chapter, and hopefully they're the last for a little while. I also hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think :) And also, Merry Christmas!**

* * *

**THREE: 紹介 - Introductions**

The boys' expectations had been high earlier, but they quickly diminished upon actually seeing the inside. The room was run-down, barely looking like it had been taken care of in the last few decades, and it would honestly make every interior designer in the world either wail in horror or grin in some kind of interior-decorating-sadism...

The students inside didn't make it any better; almost the entire room was empty, especially when compared to the classrooms for the actual school itself. Only nine people were in the room aside from the twins and Mephisto. They looked like a mix-matched bunch, their groups consisting of three at the highest. Yukio and Rin took their first steps into the room, immediately making their way for a table up the front.

Eyes, all different colours, watched them curiously. The majority were brown, as expected, but a few were coloured differently.

"There's virtually no one here," Rin muttered to the dog. Mephisto jumped up onto the table, seating himself between the twins. "I've counted nine."

"Same here," Yukio agreed. "Shouldn't class be starting soon, too?"

Mephisto's tail began to wag, a nod coming from his canine head. "This is actually quite a lot of students, would you believe."

The boys glanced around, finding everyone else going back to what they were doing. Just as Rin started to get a good look at each of them, the door creaked open once again, signalling someone else entering. "Here's the teacher!" Mephisto whispered.

Both boys whipped their heads around to face the door. "Everyone take a seat and get comfy," the teacher announced, voice so familiar.

And then they caught sight of her.

Yukio and Rin choked on their breaths, nearly screaming when they saw their sister walk into the room in a completely different uniform than before. Her uniform resembled the boys' uniform, instead with a long trench coat and a pin similar to the one Fujimoto used to own. Clipping back her fringe were two hair pins, leaving her green eyes free of obscurities.

"My name is Juri Okumura, and I'm your anti-demon pharmaceuticals instructor" she went on, placing a briefcase onto the desk at the front of the room. Yukio caught sight of a strap running from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist, begging the question as to what was hiding behind her back. "Call me Okumura. Or, if you're feeling lukcy, Juri. No 'Miss Okumura' or 'Miss Juri' - they make me feel old. You _are_ allowed to call me 'Teacher'."

Her eyes scanned the room, seemingly skipping over her brothers. What was going on!? "I'm going to go around the room and ask for a name and a fact about yourself. We'll start with Yakuza Junior." She pointed to one of the boys to the right, the one with a streak of blonde hair through his brunette.

He sat up a little straighter, brown eyes focused. "My name is Ryuji Suguro, ma'am," he announced. "I come from Kyoto."

"Good for you. Don't call me 'ma'am'. Pinkie, you're next."

Another boy with Suguro blinked, his nickname coming from his dyed-pink hair. "Name's Renzo Shima. My real hair colour isn't pink."

"Obviously. Baldie!"

"K-Konekomaru Miwa, Teacher!" This came from the small, bald boy with Suguro and Shima, glasses with red rims perched on his nose. "I also come from Kyoto!"

"Okay, then. You, there - Eyebrows. Name and fact."

"Izumo Kamiki," a girl to their left replied. Rin glanced over at her, quickly understanding why she was called Eyebrows by Juri. The girl had oddly-shaped, small eyebrows above her red eyes. "I'd rather not say anything about myself yet."

Juri scoffed, opting to not make a remark about Kamiki's reply. "Alright, then. Beady Eyes, your turn."

The brunette girl next to Kamiki nodded, looking like the most normal of all the other students. "My name is Noriko Paku. I'm friends with Izumo," she introduced. Yukio blinked. He never thought he'd actually hear a soft voice like Paku's, especially at her age.

Juri nodded and pointed to the table behind the boys, causing them to turn around. "Byakugan," she said. An unexpectedly familiar face nodded back.

Hamasaki replied confidently, "My name is Hitomi Hamasaki. I'm blind, but can see demonic energy in the form of colours."

_Blind?_ Rin wondered. _But she read the speach..._

"Useful," Juri laughed. "Pretty Boy."

The boy next to Hamasaki sat up a little straighter and smiled charmingly, a low, blonde ponytail slung over his shoulder. His eyes were mismatched, one being brown and the other being green. "I'm Tomoya Moriyama. We already know each other, _Juri_."

The glares Moriyama recieved were enough to make a glass building explode, but the boy didn't seem to notice. The twins' glares were cut short, also, as Juri immediately announced, "Mole Face. Name and fact."

Yukio stood, scowling at his sister. "You know my name! You mind telling us what's going on?"

Ignoring his question, Juri sighed, "Fine, I'll introduce you _both_ to the class. Mole Face is Yukio Okumura. Angry Eyes is Rin Okumura. They are indeed my brothers, as implied in their last names."

Rin went to make a demand, but Juri deftly stopped him by announcing, "I get the feeling I won't be getting a response from Eminem and Sock Puppet, so I'll get straight to business."

With a frown, Yukio sat back down. "Mephisto," he muttered, "what's going on?"

"Tsk, tsk," Mephisto scolded, shaking his head at the younger twin. "You should address me as 'Sir'."

_But... You're a dog,_ Rin thought. _Argh, never mind that! What is Juri doing?_

"As you may have guessed," Juri went on, "I'm the new instructor who happens to be a year or two older than you. In regard to exorcism, I'm three years your senior." Juri walked around her desk and turned for the front of it, revealing the sheath and handle of a sword to Yukio's eyes. _A jian_, he noted.

Juri hopped up onto her desk and sat with her legs dangling over the edge, smiling crookedly at her students. There was the cheeky sister the boys knew. "Who here has encountered a temptaint? Raise your hand." A few students raised their hands, and Juri quickly counted. "Okay, five. I guess that makes our first lesson a small lesson on the temptaint ritual."

Blinking in confusion, Rin lowered his head to whisper to Mephisto, "What's temptaint?"

"Good question," Yukio agreed under his breath. Mephisto's tail began to wag once more.

"They're wounds and afflictions you receive from demons. After a single infection with temptaint, you can see demons," he explained. "I suspect that Miss Hamasaki's blindness comes from a temptaint, as I've only heard of people with her kind of sight being results of demon wounds. Anyway, all exorcists must go through this ritual."

Mephisto lowered his head onto the table, exhaling with a doggy smile. "Of course, you two won't have to do it," he told them. "Being the sons of Satan, and all."

The boys merely stared ahead, reminded of the night they were told of this fact.

_"Don't ever pretend to be our father again!"_

Rin clenched his hands tightly. Why had he said such a thing to Fujimoto? All he'd been doing was try to keep Rin and Yukio safe. Why did Rin have to explode like that?

"Miss Okumura," Mephisto went on, breaking the boys' train of thought, "was one of the youngest students to become an exorcist. She's a genius in anti-demon pharmaceuticals, as well as- Oh, I'll leave you two to figure it out."

_We had no idea,_ Yukio realised. _No idea at all..._

It took them a moment to realise she was still talking, and it wasn't until a student asked a question did they begin to listen once more. "Is it s-safe?" The question came from Paku herself, and for some reason Yukio couldn't help but listen carefully to her soft tone.

"Yes," Juri said with a nod. She was no longer seated on the desk, rather standing in front of it with her hands crossed in front of her. "Goblins don't usually appear in bright places where people gather. They're a low-level demon that has only enough power for very childish pranks. They're pretty easy to handle."

She reached for her briefcase and opened it, producing a few items that Yukio guessed were required. "However," she went on, "when they smell fermented animal blood, they grow violent. Goblins love milk, so I'll only use one drop of a mixture of one part blood to nine parts milk to draw out a few goblins for our ritual." She returned behind the desk, leaving the class in silence. "Please wait while I prepare the mixture."

A small amount of time passed as she prepared it, and with each second Rin grew more and more impatient. Finally unable to control himself, he rose from his seat and stalked over to the desk. He slammed his hands onto the surface loudly.

"Hey!" he near-yelled, getting Juri's attention.

"Yes?" she inquired, barely looking up from her task. She seemed a little disinterested, like she didn't want to talk at all.

"Explain yourself. Why didn't you answer Yukio's question?"

"We're in the middle of a class, Rin. Sit down."

Anger welled up in his stomach, but it wasn't Rin who replied to her. No, this time it was Yukio, who shouted, "Knock it off, Juri!" Juri's movements ceased, her expression just a little bit shocked. Of course she was shocked - she'd never been yelled at by Yukio, nor had she heard him speak so angrily. While Yukio felt bad that he was treating her this way, he found it reasonable with how she was treating them.

"As I said before," she said, loud enough for only her brothers to hear, "I became an exorcist when I was fourteen - three years ago. I began my training when I was ten. I was infected with temptaint when my village was slaughtered by demons, and I was only two at the time. I've been able to see demons since before I could even make sense of the world." A look of pain crossed her face. "I've known the whole time. The only ones who didn't know was you two."

Yukio stood and joined them, clicking faster than Rin. "Wait, you mean Akat-"

"Please return to your seats."

"If you knew," Rin growled, "then why didn't you tell us?"

A loud bang sounded through the room, followed by a rage-filled glare from Juri, her hands no doubt burning from the impact she'd made with the desktop. The twins flinched, but still waited for an answer. When none came, Rin scoffed and crossed his arms in front of him.

Finally, Juri announced, "Everyone leave the room for a moment. I need to have a talk with these two."

A few mutters broke out between the groups, but Rin found his eyes landing on the glancing form of Hamasaki. This time, while her pupil-less lilac eyes watched his area, they bored into his own blue ones as though she was trying to figure something out. Before he could wonder what it was, the door closed behind her and Rin was forced back into the hole they'd dug.

Juri stood there, looking down at her desk with a glint of anger in her eyes. Her mouth was set into a thin line, a small amount of red emerging into her cheeks. "Idiots," she growled.

"What was that?" Rin demanded. Juri's head snapped up, a snarl on her face.

"You damn well heard me, Rin!" she all but screamed. "You're idiots! Have you even stopped to think about _why_ you weren't told about _this_?" She gestured to the both of them with exasperation, adding, "Surely Dad told you about _why_ he kept it a secret, right before he _died_! Huh? _Did he_?"

With a shake of his head, Yukio sighed, "We thought he wanted to get rid of us - we thought he was only pretending to-"

"_Idiots_!"

"Stop calling us idiots!"

"Fine! _Morons_!" She stormed over to them, grabbing them both by the collar of their jackets before they could even move. "You honestly thought he was _pretending_? That he didn't even _love you_? If that's not idiotic or moronic, I don't know what is! Dad considered you two as his own as much as he did Akatsuki and I! The fact that you'd- Just the thought-"

Her hands began to tremble, and she released them as she hung her head in sadness. "Idiots," she mumbled. "We were his family - his little blue family. That's what he called us. Remember? You two never knew why he called you that, especially when the only blue thing about you was your eyes. Well... Now you know. Akatsuki, for his blue jacket - the one he always wore, every day. Me, for my obsession with the colour. And you guys, for your flames."

Before another word could be said, she brought them into a tight hug, one arm around each of their shoulders as she squeezed them tight. "We never told you because we wanted this world hidden from you for as long as we could keep it away."

* * *

"_She was a little intimidating_," Mephisto said. "_However, for her first lesson she did quite well._"

Akatsuki laughed to himself. He was currently seated at the desk of room 602, located within the abandoned boys' dorm. Any moment now, Rin and Yukio would be walking through the door with their bags, and Akatsuki was going to make sure to give them a good housewarming. "That's good," he said. "It seems she's finally standing on her own two feet." He frowned, remembering what he'd asked the man on the other end. "I wasn't asking about Juri, though."

The sound of sipping came from Mephisto's side of the conversation, followed by a hum. "_Their powers weren't shown today, but I suspect that it was due to Miss Okumura's way of handling their anger. Does she always scream back at them and give off a dangterous air when she does that?_"

Akatsuki sighed. "Yep. That's Juri."

"_However_," Mephisto went on, "_I suspect that their flames may be useful against demons. We could use that. There is the problem of the flames' stability, though, as they could also react to their emotions. They've got good sense, of course, but I'd rather wait and see them actually use their gifts._"

With a nod, Akatsuki leaned back in his seat. He was growing just a little bit impatient, tired of waiting for his brothers. "_If they learn to control the flames, mind you, they could become the most unique and powerful weapons for the Knights of the True Cross._"

_Powerful... Weapons,_ he thought to himself. _Father had told me about the possibility. Do I want that, though?_

Mephisto continued on, but Akatsuki found himself only half-listening. The one question - did he want them to become weapons? - haunted his mind. He'd made a vow, but he was so young when he had. How could he expect himself to live up to it now that he was more aware?

_"I need you to promise me something, Akatsuki."_

_"Eh? What?"_

_"There may be a risk that Yukio and Rin are taken from us. If that happens, and they fall into the wrong hands, your brothers could be turned into weapons. Dangerous, powerful weapons."_

_"What!? No! When I become an exorcist, I'll make sure it never happens!"_

He sighed to himself again. He didn't need to keep the promise - he _wanted_ to keep it. "Sir Pheles," he said, ready to end the conversation. "Juri may have taken the role of their mentor, but they still need a protector. I'll take Father's place and protect them."

At that, he hung up and stared down at the phone in his hand, wondering if what he'd just said was the right thing to say.

The door to the room began to open, the sound of Juri saying, "Home, sweet home," following. The twins' voices followed, only to be cut off when the light was turned on. Akatsuki turned to them from his seat, smiling slightly.

"Surprise."

The boys dropped their bags, just as Juri blinked in shock. Surprise, indeed.


End file.
